What's His Favorite Color?
by starletxxx
Summary: Stiles attempts to write down some trivial facts about his favorite sourwolf only to find... he doesn't know very much about him. Smidge of Iserek in there.


_"Derek Hale._

_Handsome, rugged, angry."_

Stiles stared at the words written in the pad before continuing.

_"Alpha of our pack. Born wolf._

_Family died in house fire as result of manipulative of a bitch ex-girlfriend, Kate Argent. _

_Likes boring colors: black, white, grey, brown, etc._

_Lived in old burned house before finally moving into loft with Isaac._

_Kicked Isaac out._

_Fucked my teacher._

_Killed my teacher."_

Stiles twisted his lips at the last few things. His brain raced with more adjectives to describe the broody wolf.

_"Self-loathing. Stubborn. Moody. Heroic (often misplaced). Pessimistic. Skeptical. Untrusting. Self-sacrificial. Brave. Self-deprecating. Loyal. Caring. Insensitive."_

Satisfied with the lengthy list, Stiles attempted to start writing down some superlatives of Derek's when he found…

he knew nothing. He didn't know Derek's favorite cereal, tv show, hell he didn't even know the most universally identified thing, which was his favorite color (although Stiles would be willing to bet it was black or some other gloomy color)

With this in mind, Stiles made up his mind to interrogate Derek the next time they were alone.

**xxx**

Stiles groaned inside his jeep. They had just finished up another pack meeting and he had yet to leave the parking lot of Derek's loft. All the others had already left, claiming lots of homework to finish up.

How could the most lonesome, dark, mysterious person in Beacon Hills be so hard to corner?

There was literally never a moment when Derek was by himself. He was constantly flanked by his pack.

And if it wasn't them, then the extended members of the pack, which shocked Stiles immensely.

Imagine the look on his face when he found Derek shopping at the grocery store. He's getting ready to sneak up on the wolf when out of _no-fucking-where, _Danny dumps something into Derek's cart.

Stiles had watched dumbfounded as Danny said something with his signature dimpled grin. Derek then rolled his eyes fondly before lightly smacking his arm.

Stiles would never admit to that weird stirring he felt in his chest at watching Derek laugh and joke around with someone else. Whenever he attempted to jest with the sourwolf, he got a much less friendly looking eye roll before Derek would walk away.

Stupid sourwolf.

Stiles glared at his steering wheel, thinking.

The worst offender was Isaac.

Even though there had been some bad tension between the two, somehow Derek and Isaac managed to talk everything out and now they were glued to each others' sides. When they had pack meetings, Derek and Isaac shared the huge armchair.

Stiles understood the beta's need to be close to their alpha but Erica and Boyd weren't nearly as clingy as Isaac was. It was like he had to be near Derek or a zombie apocalypse would break out.

Stiles was concentrating so hard on plotting how to corner Derek that he completely missed the figure standing outside his door.

**xxx**

Derek didn't want to think much about the looks Stiles had been giving him all throughout pack meeting.

His usual dorky smirk was replaced by an expression Derek couldn't completely decipher. If he had to pick, Derek would say that it was a weird combination of curiosity and annoyance.

Mostly the annoyance was whenever he interacted with Isaac, who had squashed himself into Derek's arm chair, leaving little breathing space for either wolf.

Derek turned off the kitchen lights with the intent of heading to sleep when the wind blew and something's scent caught him off guard.

Or rather, someone's scent.

All the other pack members had left after loitering around his loft for a few hours except Stiles.

Derek focused his senses and was able to pinpoint Stiles' exact location and mood.

He was planted inside his jeep, still in the parking lot. Frustration and something akin to jealousy (?) was rolling off him in waves.

Curious and slightly freaked out, Derek went to investigate. When he approached the jeep, he found Stiles in the driver's side, glaring intensely at the wheel.

Derek studied his face in silence.

His honey eyes were sparkling with some unknown fierceness that made Derek's wolf howl in pride. His usual smooth forehead was wrinkled in distress and his whole body just screamed 'pissed'.

Finally, Derek knocked loudly on the window, expecting him to do something Stiles-like and hop 10 feet into the air.

That didn't happen, however. Stiles stiffly leaned back into his seat and slowly turned his head to stare at Derek head on.

Derek was shocked at the look on his face.

The usual goofy expression was replaced by a cool face. They stared at each other in silence until Stiles' brow slowly slid up into an arch, as if to say 'can I help you?'.

Derek shifted awkwardly before staring pointedly at the window serving as a barrier between the two. Stiles caught on and with a sigh, rolled the window down.

"How may I be of service, Mr. Sourwolf?" Stiles asked dryly as soon as the window disappeared completely.

"I'd like to know what you're still doing here," Derek replied in the same tone,

"What, can't wait to be rid of the human terror?"

He said it jokingly, but Derek's wolfed out senses picked up on the forced manner immediately as well the almost painful look in his eyes well-hidden behind the smirk.

"Stiles," Derek spoke in a low tone, "is there something you need to tell me?"

The teenager refused to look at him, instead opting to look straight ahead. After a few minutes of silence, Derek became impatient and decided to just leave Stiles and his weirdness down here.

As he turned around, he heard the small squeak behind him, "Derek, I really need to speak to you."

**xxx  
**Derek flicked the lights back on and made his way to the kitchen with Stiles in tow.

"Did you want anything? Something to drink?" he asked, raiding his fridge.

"The usual." came the reply behind him.

He dug around before grabbing one sugary energy drink from the stash he kept solely for Stiles.

He grabbed a water for himself and closed the door with his foot. When he turned back around, Stiles was sitting at the kitchen island with the same unreadable expression that Derek was getting tired of seeing.

He slid into the chair across from him and waited. A few seconds of silence passed when Stiles finally opened his mouth to say something.

Before he could get anything out, Isaac appeared in the kitchen doorway. He smiled cheerily at Stiles who only stared back blankly.

"Hey Stiles! We thought everyone had left already?" he waltzed over to Derek and grabbed the already half empty bottled water from his grip and took a long drink.

Derek didn't miss the nearly mutinous look Stiles wore as he watched Isaac.

What was going on there? Maybe some rivalry at school? Perhaps it was that lacrosse team?

But that didn't make sense, because Isaac was being completely friendly and Stiles looked like he'd just set his jeep on fire.

"I… stayed." Stiles answered awkwardly,

Isaac looked at Derek weirdly before replying, "Oooookay." he took a seat next to Derek, who was still watching the scene interestingly.

**xxx**

Stiles' eyes flickered between the two wolves silently. He refused to say anything until Isaac was far, _far _away.

But at the same time, he wouldn't just ask Isaac to leave. He had _some _manners.

Fortunately, Derek caught on as he cleared his throat.

"Isaac. Leave us alone for a while." he nodded at the beta who shrugged and left the kitchen.

Stiles and Derek listened as he made his way to the upstairs bedroom.

"Isaac." Derek said normally. No need to shout, Isaac could hear him perfectly, "A long while."

Seconds later, the front door slid open and shut.

Stiles gulped when Derek then switched his expectant gaze to him.

He picked up his pad and pen then looked at Derek with the most determined look the wolf had ever seen.

"What's your favorite color?"

Derek looked unsurely at him, waiting for him to be serious and tell him the real problem. When Stiles remained quiet (something one should appreciate for its rarity), Derek understood that he was legitimately asking.

"Are you fucking serious? The dark moodiness, the glaring, the blank looks… all because you want to know my favorite color?"

"Derek, answer the question!" Stiles said in a very un-Stiles tone.

The alpha sighed before answering, "Purple."

"Like a dark violet?"

"No, more like a slightly darker lavender,"

Derek almost laughed at the wide eyed look Stiles shot him.

"Well." was all Stiles said as he scribbled something down.

"What are you writing?" Derek tried to take a peak.

"Nothing."

"Stiles-"

"No really, I'm writing nothing because I know _abso-fucking-lutely nothing about you. I don't know your favorite movie, your favorite store. Nothing._" Stiles hissed, as he began to pace aggresively.

Derek watched, unnerved. Was Stiles really flipping his lid because he didn't know Derek's favorites?

"It's not that big of a deal, Stiles." he said slowly.

That proved to be the wrong thing to say because Stiles then whipped around to smile darkly at him.

"Really, Derek? It isn't?"

Derek wisely chose to stay quiet. He had no idea what was happening but one thing he was sure of: something else was bothering Stiles, he couldn't be this angry over something like his favorite color.

"Tell me something, Alpha Hale; does Isaac know your favorite things? Favorite cereal? That your favorite color is fucking _lavender _although anyone with half a brain would have guessed that it was black?"

Derek was bewildered by Stiles unexplainable anger. "He's always got the cabinets stocked with Jumbo Rice Krispies even though I never told him to; so I presume he does."

_"I presume he does,_" Stiles mimicked, which irritated the hell out of Derek.

"Stiles if you're just going to yell and throw a fit, then you can just leave."

"Oh so you're kicking me out? Am I not good enough for you? Not Isaac enough for your taste?"

Derek officially had enough of Stiles' bullshit.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Derek said, not quite yelling, but still very loudly.

"YOU ARE. YOU ARE MY FUCKING PROBLEM. YOU'RE SO SELF-INVOLVED THAT YOU DON'T EVEN REALIZE WHEN SOMEONE IS CRUSHING ON YOU."

Derek physically drew back at that. He took in Stiles' reddening face, harsh breathing and hiked heartbeat.

What was he trying to say? Did Stiles like him?

The thought sent something very warm and pleasant straight to Derek's chest.

"What are you saying, Stiles?" he asked quietly.

**xxx**

_"What are you saying Stiles?"_

What did that mean? Obviously, Derek was just toying with him. He had to know that it meant Stiles had a ginormous sized crush on him. He was probably just trying to further embarrass Stiles by making him verbally say it. Well Stiles wasn't falling for it.

So he did what he did best to combat the wolves' unfair lying detectors: half truths and omitting details.

"I'm saying genius, that Isaac likes you."

Something in the way Derek's previous hopeful look dropped off his face made Stiles feel like he was missing something big.

What if Derek wasn't trying to fool him? What if he really didn't know?

While Stiles toyed with the possibilities, he barely had time to register that Derek had left the kitchen. He followed him to where the wolf stood by the open front door.

"Thanks for bringing it to my attention, I'll talk to Isaac about it when he gets home. You should get going, it's getting late."

Stiles felt his stomach drop at the tired and resigned look on Derek's face. Now he was definitely sure that he had missed something big. Welp, there was that other thing that Stiles did well: damage control.

"I don't want you to talk to Isaac."

"Stiles, you really don't have a say in the matter."

"Well I _should._ I'm the one who told you."

"Yes, you did. I have no idea why, but you did so-"

"I told you to cover myself."

Derek frowned at him before shutting the door, making some of Stiles' rising anxiety dissipate.

"Cover yourself from what, exactly?"

"From telling you that I…"

Stiles could feel his heart pounding in his ears.

"Stiles."

He felt comforting large hands on his shoulders, beating down the panic and slowing his heart down. Before he could think, Stiles grabbed the alpha by his head and smashed their lips together.

**xxx**

The kiss was rushed, weird and slightly painful with the clinking of their teeth but it got the point across.

Stiles tried not to be discouraged when Derek ripped his lips away from his.

"Stiles?!"

He looked so confused and cute, and sooo un-Derek that Stiles couldn't help but laugh.

"This is serious, stop laughing. Why'd you do that?" Derek seemed to be the one on the verge of panic this time as he looked wildly at the younger man.

"I like you idiot. A lot." Stiles clarified through some residual chuckles.

"Okay." Derek nodded, finally understanding. "And the favorite color thing and Isaac?"

Stiles blushed "I was jealous that he knew so much about you."

Derek rolled his eyes fondly and Stiles beamed when he slipped his arms around his waist and yanked him closer.

"I've known about Isaac awhile. I was flattered by his crush and probably would've reciprocated the feelings if it weren't for a scrawny white kid with an embarrassing first name that had already stolen my affections a while ago."

Stiles huffed playfully, "Who the fuck is this mystery guy? Am I going to have to fight him off? Because if I can handle Isaac, I can handle this punk."

Derek looked heavenwards before leaning his forehead on Stiles'

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?"

"Every full moon."

Derek grinned at finally finding something that could successfully shut Stiles up: his lips.


End file.
